How To Tell When Loki Is Pregnant
by guidinglight18
Summary: Tony hadn't woken up that morning expecting to be greeted with a female Loki. Nor with the news that he was going to be a father. What else could go wrong in his life? Warnings: Genderbending, Slash, Tony/Loki
1. Chapter 1

Based off a fill for the LJ norsekink. Tony/Loki. Genderbending, Slash, Preganancy.

**Chapter One**:

The tall, gorgeous woman standing in the middle of the rubble of a blown up bank was not the villain Tony had been expecting to see when the Avengers had been informed that Loki was downtown creating trouble for some people at the bank. And really, the man could probably smooth talk his way into getting money, or magic up some and he chooses to blow a bank up? Can't he give Tony a day of peace?

But this tall, brunette woman was not Loki. Couldn't be. For one, she was a woman. Yeah she had the same dark hair and eyes, pretty much the same face, but there were breasts. Breasts and hips and...yeah breasts. She must have just borrowed Loki's clothes or something. His brain short circuited at the thought of some woman sleeping with Loki and borrowing his clothes. Yeah she seemed to be crazy to. She was practically steaming looking at Tony, Thor and Steve standing there.

Steve seemed just as perplexed with this situation as he was. And blushing as well, since Steve was never going to be able to talk to pretty women without being tongue tied in some way. He was gripping his shield in tensed, white hands and standing there as if Loki was going to jump out from behind the girl and set him on fire. He'd done that once, or tried too. Steve had only just evaded the ball of flames.

Thor on the other hand seemed to be shaking his head and was inexplicably putting down Mjolnir and seemed to be walking towards the woman. And yeah she was getting angry. Her hands went up as if she was about to blast at him with something and looking at him with the same green eyed glare that Loki always had. Fuck, maybe Loki had a twin. A crazy twin sister that Thor had never told them about. Two of them. Tony could feel the beginnings of a headache stirring.

"Again, little brother? You are a woman again. One that looks like yourself." Thor was mouthing words and yeah he seemed not to realize that he was talking to a woman. Not his brother. "Who was it this time? If it was that vile Doom character, tell me and I will crush his genitals into pulp." Tony blinked and looked at Thor. While he was all for a crushed Doom, that seemed a little harsh.

"Are you insane? You think I would sleep with that moron?" And okay, yeah the girl definitely had to be crazy because she was talking to Thor like she was Loki. Because she wasn't. There is no way that Tony could believe that this woman was Loki. Thor, still moving closer, suddenly came to a halt as his way was blocked by a wall of light.

"Stay over there. In fact, make yourself useful. Get that money for me," she ordered and yeah, most of the banks money was scattered around the rubble near their feet. Thor actually bent down and started to pick some up!

"Thor, what are you doing? We don't just hand money over to super villains," Steve tried to insist, but she turned her glare on to him and he shut up. Literally shut up. He looked like he was trying to speak but couldn't open his mouth.

"Here Loki, though I don't know why you insist on this. Mother would take care of you, you know this. She has always wanted more grandchildren."

Grandchildren? Mother? More? Loki has kids? There were crazy, magic wielding, children of Loki running around Asgard or Midgard or who the hell knows where? The pounding in his head was getting bigger. And ugh, he was actually starting to believe this craziness. This woman as Loki. A pregnant, female Loki.

"I am not going home! Do you not remember what your father did last time? I don't even know where Fenrir is. No, this child will be taken care of, by me! None more are going to be stolen. Do not inform mother."

Thor had a considerable amount of money in his hands, enough to buy a condo in Venice Beach and a summer home in Hawaii probably, which suddenly flew out of his hands into a leather satchel that Loki was holding.

Tony tried to speak past the lump in his throat. Steve was still standing there, getting more and more frustrated at his lack of voice, while Thor was pouting, trying to insist Odin would never take away his child and Loki was getting more and more hysterical, screaming about other children. Pregnancy hormones. The world was doomed.

"So who is the daddy then," was what came out of his throat. Fuck. He hadn't wanted to ask that, and now Loki was looking at him with glaring green eyes. Her lips slowly formed into a smirk as she looked at him and why did that make him feel like running away? Thor was also looking at her, the look on his face both protective and curious and what had that been about crushing genitals? Did he do that to all the fathers of Loki's kids?

Tony tensed up when Loki's black hair faded into a curly red and her face filled out rounder, green eyes kept but freckles added and crap...this was the face of a reporter he'd slept with a couple of months back. Her red lips were smirking at him evilly.

"I expect child support payments Tin Man. I understand that's custom in Midgard and I will not have my child living in some filth in this world because I do not have good credit." Tony felt himself go numb when Loki coyly waved goodbye and disappeared. Shit. What was that? He was lying.

Shit. Left alone with Thor. And Steve. Steve who was gaping at him and Thor was ...not happy. Fuck. Loki wasn't going to be getting any child support because Tony was going to be lucky to make it away from this rubble alive.

"I demand that you marry my brother." Thor's loud shout was accompanied by his pounding footsteps as he entered the kitchen where Tony had taken refuge. He stared at him out of one eye, the other being nursed by the ice Pepper had provided him. The man had lost his mind.

"Are you serious? Marry your brother? A few problems there buddy. He's male. And an alien. And evil. Not to mention, crazy. Seriously, have you lost your mind?" All things Tony probably shouldn't have said but he was nursing a couple of bruises and shots and didn't particularly give a damn what came out of his mouth right now, even to the hammer happy Norse god in front of him. The still very pissed off Norse god.

Thor was frowning at him, and Tony looked anxiously around for Mjölnir. Thankfully it seemed to have been left...well wherever Thor left it when he wasn't holding it. That thing hurt like a mother, even protected by a suit of iron. Tony felt like a giant walking bruise and still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Loki was pregnant.

"My brother's honor has been sullied enough. Father will not reject this child if my brother is lawfully married for once. The last three he had were bastards and unsuitable. And the eldest...well, my brother would never be able to marry a horse." Tony blinked, because seriously, a horse? "Therefore, being that I know son of Stark you are an honorable man, you will concede to my demands."

"Right and I suppose the little bride would be happy with this as well huh? Wouldn't wake up to a knife in the throat one day? Are you nuts?" Tony was practically yelling that last bit out. There was no way in hell he was going to marry Loki, child or no child. And really, Loki lies! Who was to say that child was even his?

"Do not be absurd, Loki would never kill his own husband." And that, was perhaps almost crazier then anything else Thor had said since this little revelation considering the number of times Loki had tried to kill his own brother. And had thrown Tony out a window several times.

"Step back there big guy, we don't even know if this kid is really mine," and shit, Tony was the one stepping back because even without the hammer Thor still had inches and pounds of muscle on him. And was twitching. "You just said yourself, not exactly the most monogamous! And he lies!" He had his hands up in the universal gesture for 'I surrender'.

"My brother would never lie about the father of his own children. Especially if it could gain him an advantage. He is aware you are a man of science, you would want...those tests you do. And never has he slept with multiple partners at one time and if he were not in trouble right now, I would smash you to a pulp." Tony was imagining mangled genitals and true, Thor was right, no way Tony would have supported any kid without extensive DNA testing. And Loki, being more versed in the ways of earth, would know this.

"Supporting the kid and marrying Loki are two things that shouldn't mix. I would probably screw up this kid more then Loki would! I'm pretty sure your brother doesn't care about his honor on Asgard right now. He seems to have everything handled."

Handled by blowing up banks to get money. Who knew where the hell the guy even lived. This kid was probably going to turn out to be some holy nightmare.

"So...Loki is a woman who you got pregnant? Am I hearing Thor correctly or am I just trapped in some weird hallucination?" Clint said coming into the kitchen soon after Thor had left. Tony groaned into the table where he was resting his head and flipped him off.

"Loki is a woman. And pregnant. And yes, the kid is mine. Don't talk, don't remind me. I'm trying to wake up from this," Tony said, glaring at the smirk on Clint's face. He had woken up Tony from a weird dream of the very male Loki in a wedding dress where Tony was being held at the altar by hammer point, in his own imagined Asgard which looked a little like Vegas but held a bunch of sword wielding gods. Pepper had been holding a baby, oddly the only normal looking thing in the picture, who resembled the female Loki they confronted early but was holding a bottle filled with scotch.

"Congrats. When's the wedding?" Clint's voice was mocking, pouring himself scotch. Only a joke, Tony thought, face turning pale. Clint would mock this to his dying day. Tony couldn't blame him, if on the opposite side of the glass, he'd do the same. He'd have rigged his own electronics to play wedding themes whenever Clint came into a room. Or set up a whole nursery in his room. Well had Pepper set up.

"Next week, you can be the minister," he snarked. He sat up abruptly as his alarm system started to sound, and Jarvis' voice echoed throughout the kitchen, "Sir, there is an unidentified female in the living room. She appeared out of nowhere. Shall I call the police?" Clint raised his eyebrows at the announcement and looked disappointed he didn't have his gun. Tony rolled his eyes.

"No Jarvis, it's fine. I'll ummm...go confront her." Tony thought seriously about walking out the back door and never coming back but the god could probably find him anywhere in the cosmos if he...she, really wanted to.

To Tony's surprise she wasn't making a mess of his living room. Nothing looked tampered with, nor destroyed. She was just sitting on his couch, legs crossed like an actual woman. Wearing Loki's clothes and had her new, longer hair tied behind her head. Female Loki looked completely like male Loki, except with the added addition of breasts. And a few softer features. Hidden under the armor, one might never be able to tell the difference. Probably what he had been aiming for.

Wishing for his suit as he nervously eyed all the large, glass windows, he gestured, "You can't just...change back? You're adept at it." His voice was going for menacing and accusing but ended up sounding more tired to his own ears. Loki rolled her eyes, lounging back against the pillows.

"No. My magic is protecting the baby. My male Asgardian form has no womb and as it's the one I am tied to and turn to naturally, it's preventing it. So only women it is. Would you prefer the pretty reporter? You really seemed to like her," Loki replied, voice coy and low, turning seductive. The same voice he'd used to buy Tony a drink at that event, intriguing the man by how forward she was being.

"No. I'd prefer you leave my living room and to forget about this entirely. Why are you here anyway?"

Loki smirked, "This place is quite large. Nicer then where I'm staying. I'm sure you don't want to be called to any more robbed banks. Got bigger things to deal with, villains with actual agendas at the moment. I'm here to make a deal."

Tony blinked horrified, "This deal isn't in any way going to be including the words, 'I do' is it? Cause if so, no is my answer right now."

Loki's face didn't even change, "Why would I want to marry you? I couldn't think of any punishment worse then being tied to a mortal for the rest of his pitiful life. No, my deal is a lot simpler. It has occurred to me that humans have a love for money. Raising children on Midgard is expensive and while I could continue to blow up banks and various other pranks, the child will be very impressionable the first few years. Rather not make a habit of it. You have a lot of money, this baby is half yours, and this house is practically surrounded by do-gooders who would line up to protect a child. It is in my best interests that I raise this baby here."

"How...how is that simpler," Tony asked. That pretty much sounded like marriage to him, only without the sex. And seriously, his house needed more people to invade it? He would have to child proof everything. And it might not even work.

"If I'm here, raising this child, you can keep an eye on it, I'm sure you'll love that. Thor will be happier, I'm sure the marriage thing was his idea, not the first time he's attempted to get me to marry a child's father. Seems to think Odin wouldn't be so pissed off about it. And for the next twenty years or so you won't have to deal with me messing things up for you. I'm sure that's infinitely simpler then "to have and to hold," or a typical Asgardian wedding. I'm not sure you could outrun everyone. So it works to both are advantages."

Outrun? Tony thought maybe he should start looking up Norse myths, everything lately had been going over his head. He didn't like feeling like the most uninformed person in the room. Loki had made herself at home on his couch, leaning back with a smug look on her face. Like she knew exactly what Tony was about to say and wasn't even worried. Not for the first time Tony wondered if she could read minds.

"So, why me? Out of all the people at that conference that night, you pick me to sleep with? What, to hold over your brother's head?" That had been bothering him all night, mostly cause the redhead had been the best hook up of his life and not just the sex. Beyond Pepper, there weren't many women he actually connected with.

"No," there was a smirk on her face, "It was just a bit of fun."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

To no ones surprise the only person happy with Loki staying at the Avengers mansion was Thor. He was hovering around his brother like he was the father of the baby, completely doting and missing the irritated looks Loki kept throwing him. When he wasn't ordering Thor to go get something for him. Let no one say that Loki wasn't going to milk it for all it was worth. Tony had to draw the line when Thor had brought back a tiger into his house. The resulting argument had not been pretty and Tony was not looking forward to replacing his living room furniture.

Steve as well seemed to be torn between freaked out and chivalrous. When he allowed himself to forget that the pregnant woman living with them was in fact a completely unhelpless sorcerer, he acted like the poster boy for the round table. Loki had actually taken to smiling at him, and Tony kept catching himself for looking for hidden meanings in those smiles, like maybe Loki was actually going to try to sleep with Steve too. Steve would probably be a good father. Even if he was a bit dim.

The rest of the Avengers kept their distance as much as they could, because a pregnant Loki apparently meant someone not above magically welding their doors to the wall to keep them in their rooms if he was not in the mood to deal with them. Which seemed to be all the time. Thor during those moments seemed to be caught up in some sort of fond childhood nostalgia.

Tony on the other hand had already run and rerun every DNA scan that he could think of. And had Jarvis do an X-Ray when Loki had walked near the garage. None of the results disproved any claims to what Loki had already told him. In fact the baby seemed to be maturing at a rapid rate, which Loki claimed was probably down to his magic. None of his children had ever been normal pregnancies. After looking online Tony had gone to bed with nightmares of a four legged snake calling him 'daddy'. But as far as the X-Ray could tell, the baby looked completely normal.

Thor had of course not let up about the idea of marriage. If he wasn't pestering Loki with it, he was threatening Tony. Who'd locked Thor out of access to the garage. He knew it wouldn't keep him away long, he'll be finding hammer shaped holes in the glass any day now, but it gave him a little peace and quiet from the sudden chaos that had become his home. More then it usually was since Tony had the misfortune of becoming an Avenger.

"Sir, Agent Fury is arriving inside the house. He does not look happy. Would you like me to detain him." Jarvis' voice announced, breaking Tony away from the book on babies he was reading. He quickly hid it under a pile of papers and groaned. They'd kept it from Fury as long as they could, but eventually he was going to learn that Loki was living with them. Coulson wasn't going to keep something like a genius magical baby a secret for long. The three weeks it had been quiet had been more then Tony had hoped for.

"Sure Jarvis. And while we're at it, just try to brick me up in here would you? Make sure no one can get to me."

"I would sir, but you would also not be able to leave."

Tony just sat there tinkering with odds and ends. He wasn't going to go up. If Fury wanted to talk, he could damn well come find him. He wanted to delay the confrontation as long as he possibly could. Even if it was just for a few minutes.

A few minutes lasted into thirty and Tony was starting to get nervous. There was no sound of crashing, and Fury hadn't turned up yelling at him yet. What was taking so long? He was suddenly assaulted with visions of agents arresting Loki and Thor swinging his hammer at them all and gulped. Maybe it would be best to go up and find Fury himself.

He regretted it when he got to his kitchen. Fury was there alright and so was Thor. Holding what looked like a wedding planner book. What the fuck?

"What's going on here," Tony asked, looking back and forth between Thor and Fury. Fury for his part was looking at Thor as if the man had run over his pet puppy and the book like it was toxic waste. He seemed to have been waylaid from reaming Tony out by the ever persistent Thor as of late. He had a hand on Fury's wrist, keeping him from moving up off the kitchen chair.

"Stark. The better question is what is this I've heard about Loki staying here? I'm quite sure I must have been hearing that wrong because there's no possible way that any of this could be true." Fury didn't even seem to notice that Thor had now almost had a death grip on his wrist. Tony swore he could hear bones creaking.

"Then you haven't heard it," Tony responded, sweeping past to inspect the rest of his kitchen. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. There was a stack of magazines with wedding dresses on the cover that Loki had left there as a joke the other day. Tony hadn't thought it particularly funny the way Thor had jumped enthusiastically at the sight of his sibling looking through it, only to start another argument when Loki revealed the contents actually held cooking recipes.

"This is no laughing matter. I've got villains up to my ears all over this country, I've got to deal with you and 27 dresses here, and now I've got to deal with having Loki living where all our plans are stored in your damn super computer. I want him out and in custody!" Fury, through what had to be great strength of will managed to wrench his arm away from Thor's grip.

"I've explained, my brother is no threat at the moment. Rehabilitation is no good for expecting mothers. Loki would be a bigger threat to you incarcerated at the moment then having me take care of him," Tony inwardly rolled his eyes at Thor's delusions of taking care of his younger brother, "His mood at the moment is akin to a mother lion. He would raze S.H.I.E.L.D head quarters to the ground just to get ice cream if so inclined." Tony smiled picturing the look on Fury's face if that happened.

"And I've got to be the one to explain why a pregnant super villain is going around like a regular citizen. Which he's not. Other criminal mothers' have their babies taken away!"

Tony cringed, not liking that. From what he'd read up on myth, Loki had enough of his children taken away. Likely why he was so eager to stay off the radar away from any villainous allies he might have and his own parents. Fury should probably be damn thankful the expecting mother wasn't actually in the room at the moment or he'd probably be a blood stain on the floor.

Thor frowned at Fury, "My brother has had enough grief. This child will be legitimate. Father will have no reason to take it away. I will see to that. And if I have to prevent you from leaving this house to see to that as well, I will son of Fury."

Tony leaned back against the counter, biting into an apple in a bowl near the sink. Thor and Fury were sitting back arguing, voices increasing in tone and he looked around, wondering where everyone else was off hiding too. He was going to have to deal with these two nut cases on his own. Even if he was very inclined to back Thor at this moment.

"I do believe that my brother will be needing reconstructive surgery on his throat soon, he keeps up this screaming." Tony jumped at the sound of Loki's feminine voice next to his ears and looked. She was standing just to his right, leaning up against the counter and smirking with viscous enjoyment at her screaming brother. Her black hair was curled and pulled back with a rubber band and she was dressed in what looked like one of Pepper's button down shirts. Her stomach was just starting to show, rounding out slightly over the jeans.

Tony blinked. Fury and Thor hadn't turned at all at the sound of Loki arriving in the kitchen, they were still arguing. It was like they couldn't see her at all.

"They can't. Just you," she smirked, fading from his sight for a few seconds before popping back. "Not really here."

"So, where are you," he whispered, trying not to look like a loon in case they ceased their arguing for a few minutes.

"Around," she replied cryptically. Fury had thrown his hands up in the air by now, the image reminding Tony of a 14 year old throwing a tantrum.

"Fine! But I'm installing camera's all over this place. He steps one hair out of line I'm hauling his ass in so fast the speed of light would be slower! Fucking complicating my life up more. Goddamn Stark. Make him pay for my therapy bills." He left, just barely managing to not make it seemed like he was stomping off.

Loki was gone again by the time he turned his eyes away from the departure. Oh well, least he hadn't had to deal with Fury then. Should send Thor a thank you gift. Thor had gone back to looking at the wedding planner. On second thought, maybe he should just try to sneak back to his garage.

Loki was lounging in his computer chair by the time he finally escaped Thor and made it back downstairs. How long she'd been down there hell only knows. It seemed like Loki could find ways around Jarvis' security if she felt so inclined. If Tony could he would put her DNA under a microscope because the things she could do were fascinating.

She smirked over the top of the baby book he'd been reading before Fury arrived, "Planning on being a father? I was just thinking you were going to be offering monetary support."

He scowled and moved to try to snatch the book from her hands. So maybe he had just a little bit been thinking about being a father. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility. He wasn't getting any younger and while he wasn't the most mature or stable man in the world, the kid was going to need some influence in their life that wasn't wacko. He didn't want to be turning on the five o'clock news thirty years from now and see his child throwing some other poor unsuspecting bastard out a window.

His hand went through what felt like air as Loki popped out of existence once again, coming to rest on the hood of one of his cars. He took a moment to regain his balance and turned around to face her, "Does that hurt it? All that displacement? Are you damaging her doing that?" Her? Well better then it he decided.

Loki actually looked serious as she sort of smiled at him, "No, it doesn't hurt. My atoms do not go scattering from place to place to land here. It's more like a shift of reality, my thoughts move me faster then the eye can perceive." That...actually kind of made sense. In a way that didn't really. Loki didn't seem inclined to elaborate any further.

He walked over and Loki didn't move away this time.

"So...why are you reading this? I assure you, whatever it might tell you about mortal babies will not apply in this case."

Tony ran his eyes over Loki's face. It really hadn't changed much as a woman then it usually was as a man. Same green eyes, same cheekbones, the face perhaps a bit rounder to soften out the edges, bottom lip a tiny bit fuller. Breasts so small they could barely be referred to as breasts, nothing like the rack that redheaded reporter Loki had paraded around with, but with legs that went on forever. Nothing Tony would have picked out in a crowd of Malibu fake debutantes.

She was kind of the most gorgeous woman he'd ever seen.

And the most devious. Tony was playing with fire here, because he couldn't trust her farther then he could throw her. Without the suit. She was here for purposes that weren't completely known to him, reasons he was sure went beyond just wanting her child to grow up in human comfort seeing as she couldn't go home.

But she was also clever, and more intelligent then anyone Tony had ever met. Just the way she could wrap Thor around her fingers, no matter what she'd done in the past, fascinating him and drew him in like a moth to a flame. His dreams of late had taken on that odd 'expecting father' turn, where delusions like picnics and school plays and seeing their child graduate from MIT at 16 ran through his head during some of his more fanciful moments.

In a flash Loki had wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling a startled Tony closer, "I'm a bit bored. Entertain me." Her slim hands came up to fiddle with the collar of his shirt and his mouth went dry when her fingers caught on the skin of his neck. She was looking at him coyly, dark lashes fanned on her cheeks over her narrowed eyes.

And really, why would he say no? She was hot and willing and Thor was thankfully upstairs where even he wouldn't hear Tony banging his sibling...again. His mouth crashed against hers, tongues fighting a battle for dominance and he picked her up, causing her to tighten her legs grip around him. He might not be a Norse god, but even carrying extra baby weight, her slim form felt like a feather in his grip.

It took him a while to carry her all the way to one of his longer backseats. A comfortable Corvette. They had stopped to tear each others clothes off and he'd gotten momentarily distracted at the sight of her shirtless, rounded stomach evidence of their last tryst, before she'd pulled him into another kiss, gripping his hair roughly.

He dropped her, not entirely gently on to the back seat of the car. She propped herself up on her elbows and smirked, curls a wild mess around her face. His heated gaze took in all of her as he leaned over her, undoing the button on her jeans and pulling them down in one quick move. No underwear. Not a spur of the moment decision then for her. He felt absurdly cocky at the thought that Loki had planned this.

They didn't need any words for this. She worked his own jeans off in a few seconds and then they were a blur of mouths against mouths, teeth sucking and biting marks into the sensitive flesh of breasts and necks. His back stung from where her nails had scrapped him and the leather seat creaked with every thrust he made. He panted harshly and swallowed the bitten off moans she was making, her every move matching him vigorously. His hands landed gently to caress her stomach when he came and she lay, momentarily sated, underneath him. He lazily licked some of the sweat from her neck as he traced patterns over her stomach, maneuvered over to her side on the seat. He almost fancied he could feel something moving under his palm.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**:

The next few weeks past in a blur to Tony. He and Loki continued to have sex, she claimed it was to keep her from being bored to tears in his mansion. Clint and Natasha had gone on away missions, probably to avoid coming in contact with the God, who seemed to see them as her favorite targets. She avoided Bruce, not mentioning why, though Tony privately figured it was cause she didn't want to take any chances with the green rage monster at the moment. Steve beyond his own comprehension seemed to be the only one safe from being pranked, which Tony was absolutely not pissed at.

There wasn't a surface of his house that hadn't been...christened by the two of them. Except for his own bedroom. They had even had sex in Thor's bedroom and Tony had spent half the time out of his mind with fear that Thor would walk in on his sister going down on him at any moment. Sex with Loki was a ritual in concentration. Best sex of his life, and half out of his mind with fear. One time she had decided to have her fun while they were watching tv in the living room. Steve had been in the room. It was all Tony could do not to melt into the floor when Steve had looked over at him due to the moans he'd been making. Apparently he couldn't see Loki's hand down Tony's jeans.

A room had also been put aside for the baby. Next to the room that Loki had claimed as her own. It had an interconnecting door and was actually too far away from Tony's own room for his liking. Pepper had decided she wasn't going to leave the room in Tony's hands so she had sat Loki down and apparently made a well enough impression that Loki actually took her advice for what to do. The room had been painted in neutral colors, with wallpaper strips near the floor and the ceiling that oddly enough had moving horses, wolves and what seemed to be snakes. The crib had been placed near a bay window in the room and was old and handmade, found in an antique shop in London. Loki had come back with it a few days before. Thor had even brought a bunch of hand made wooden toys for the baby. Without Tony even truly realising Loki had moved in permanently into his life.

He had no idea when she'd done it but she seemed to have moved her entire library into her own room at the mansion. Books were everywhere, shelves had been moved into the room and stacked by order. Old books, new books, books in different languages. If not for the bed which had replaced Tony's old guest bed, a four poster with green hanging curtains, he'd have thought the room was a bookstore.

They were crashed out on Loki's bed now, naked and sated and for once Tony wasn't fearing that Thor was going to walk in on them. It was clear no one could enter Loki's room without Loki wanting them too. Coulson had found that out the hard way when he'd tried and spent the next few hours as a bunny. Loki's eyes were closed but she wasn't asleep. Tony had found that she seemed to be most truthful in this half asleep, half blissed out state then at any other time she'd talked to him.

He asked her all sorts of things during these times. Sometimes she would stay silent, sometimes she'd answer. Asked her to explain why it was so easy for her normally to shapeshift between a man and a woman and she'd replied that her true form was both and neither. Thor wouldn't elaborate anymore on that statement when it was brought up to him, explained that it was something his brother was sensitive about.

"You know," he said, tongue flicking out in tiny cat licks across her stomach, "I have sex a lot. Always use protection. And yet, somehow this still happens." A tiny foot bumped against his mouth. It should have freaked him out but it made him feel more relaxed and calm then he ever had.

"It was defective. I'm a god, doesn't work the same way with me," she said, half yawning. Her eyes were still closed by her hands had come up to play with his hair.

"You knew that and you still slept with me anyway? Completely knowing this was a possibility?" He arched his eyebrows up.

"Why not?" Tony sighed at her answer, looking at her face. Yes, why not jump at the chance to change the life of one of her brother's friends. For the fun of it, so she had claimed. Not for the first time he wondered how much of the truth she kept hidden.

Tony, for the first time in a long time, sat alone in his garage, looking at slides of himself as a baby. His mother, doting on him and happy and far different then he remembered her being in her later years, as the work and drinking had consumed his father. He took a swallow of his own scotch and looked through the scant few pictures of his father and him as they went past on the projector.

Even knowing now that his father had loved him, he still struggled with his own relationship with him. Cold and distant, he'd spent a lot of his life in boarding schools and in the company of nannies. Thor had explained that royal children were often reared by nannies as well, but that Frigga had often taken a more hands on approach with her youngest, possibly because Loki had been unlike any other male child of the Aesir. Magic in Asgard was considered a feminine art and so Loki had been odd even in his own home land. Thor had also explained that he did not know exactly how Loki would react to being a parent, because he had usually been allowed scant few moments in his children's company. Never the less it seemed to effect Loki in ways that were obvious.

As her time drew nearer she seemed to be growing more and more suspicious. The sex and the pranks had all but stopped and worry lines had appeared on her face. She would disappear for days at a time, causing Tony and Thor much lack of sleep and not a small amount of anxiety but each time she came back she would seem tired but relieved. She would explain nothing. Due to this Thor had put away his plans for marriage and seemed more determined to make his brother comfortable then anything else at the moment.

Pepper and Loki had also become very close. Pepper had taken over everything when it came to helping the expecting mother, she took her shopping for baby clothes and had gotten her to a very discreet doctor for regular checkups. She seemed to have forgotten that Loki was someone the Avengers had just a few months before been trying to stop from world domination, or perhaps just didn't care having put up with Tony for so many years. She knew how to handle difficult people.

The other strange thing was that for the past few weeks there had been no supervillain activity in what seemed like weeks. Tony knew it had to be no coincidence that this was coinciding with Loki's rather odd disappearances lately and Fury seemed to be suspicious as well. He came around the house everyday, looking and checking all his cameras as if they held the secrets of the universe and glaring at Loki whenever he came into contact with her. And been giving Tony some rather odd looks, muttering about Starks and their freaky habits. She always held the same serene, perfectly innocent look on her face. Which on her meant there was no innocence.

The rest of the Avengers were taking it as a blessing. Clint had decided to go on a vacation, Natasha had ran off to who knows where, probably somewhere she could hit someone whom she felt deserved it. Bruce was off studying in his lab and hadn't gotten angry enough to destroy something in weeks and Steve was still hanging around the house. He was a great help to Tony during his more maudlin moments, drunken discussions of everything from his fears of being a crappy dad to how he might be starting to become obsessed with the mother and how that was really, really bad.

He sighed when the last of the slides finally came to an end and put his head in his hands. Who the hell was he kidding. When had his life ever been easy? From being kidnapped in Afghanistan and then to being almost killed by someone he'd trusted his whole life, Iron Man and the Avengers, the icing on the cake would of course be to fall for someone who was probably incapable of loving him or not blowing up the world. Not that he was falling for her. The feeling was akin to an obsession, the type of all consuming passion he'd had for building the Iron Man suits.

Being near her was like being near a wildfire. Stand to close and you'd get burnt, a living reminder of why nature said that everything beautiful was deadly. But Tony was the moth in this scenario, drawn to the flame and almost eager to get burnt. And wishing desperately for a TARDIS so that he could turn back time and have his life be normal again. As normal as it would ever be.

He gulped down the last dregs of his scotch when the door opened. He expected to be seeing Thor or Steve as he turned around but to his surprise it was Rhoadey. Back from whatever mission he'd been sent on now. Tony smiled at his friend, getting up to hug him.

"So, heard you're going to be a father. Heaven help that child. Kid will be learning how to fly around in a cyber powered suit before he can walk," Rhoadey joked, pouring himself his own scotch and topping off Tony's.

"She might end up with wings of her own and not need the suit," Tony replied, only half joking. He hadn't had the guts to ask if the rumors about snakes and wolves and eight legged horses were true, or if the moving wallpaper panels in the babies room were just Loki's idea of a joke at the expense of earth mythology. He didn't want to become a smear of ash on the floor if they were true. And asking Thor anything about his brother was almost as bad, Thor wouldn't lie, he'd just become a stone wall. One time he'd actually replied that since Tony had better be courting his brother it was his duty to ask these things for himself.

"Wings huh? Well I haven't met Mommy dearest but from what I've heard, this child's got some frightening genetics. You and someone who defies all laws of reality. Only you would place that kind of headache on the world."

Tony laughed. Yes, only he would. The greatest thing he'd ever created, his father's words rang through his mind.

Rhoadey had left about a half hour before when Tony stumbled, slightly drunk, out of his garage to see Loki standing outside, leaning forward over his balcony. She wasn't wearing much, something that looked like an Asgardian style tunic, leaving her legs and feet bare. The sleeves were rolled up to her elbows and her shoulder length, curly hair was a mess at the back of her head. It was a freezing night outside, rare in Malibu and she was standing there in basically nothing. She was going to get sick, he didn't care about any alien genetics.

There was a blanket tossed on the couch and he could see rain hitting the ground through the glass. Not a lot, just mist, but enough to cause even more of a chill in the air. He grabbed the blanket and quietly slipped through the door. Her gently threw the blanket around her shoulders, wrapping her in it. Her could see her smirk slide onto her face from where he was standing at her side.

"I don't need this. Can't feel the cold," she told him, turning her head to look at him and nevertheless burying her hands in it. Tony could see tiny water droplets from the rain splashing against her cheeks.

"Thor feels the cold. And if not you, I'm sure she does," he replied, gesturing to Loki's stomach where their baby was. Water was dripping down his own face and he had forgotten to put on a coat, worried that Loki was going to make herself sick. He wrapped her arms around himself, feeling goosebumps on his skin.

Loki sighed, "You're an idiot." It sounded almost fond. She brought one of her hands out to touch Tony's cheek and her touch felt like ice on his skin for a moment before it felt like his body was warming itself. The kind of feeling like hot chocolate sliding down your throat on a freezing winter's day.

She drew her hand away and her gaze at the same time, looking up. He felt the sudden urge to hug her, an urge which he barely suppressed. Sex with an enemy turned co-parent to be was one thing, intimacy was a step Tony was terrified and wary to take. He felt like he would fall and never land on the ground again.

"Asgard never really gets cold. Not like here. The seasons are always warm. To counter the frost of our neighbors I suspect. Thor never did dress warmly enough, I never needed to," she said, her voice distant and like she wasn't talking to him at all, but was addressing some phantom presence.

She reached over and twined her fingers through his in a flash, still not even looking down. Tony blinked in confusion, looking at their two hands. Hers so much smaller and pale, the blue of her veins shining through like it was glowing, like water. She brought their hands up to study them, like she was looking through a microscope.

"I guess it doesn't get cold enough here either," she mused, sounding equal parts relieved and pensive.

"Doesn't get cold enough for what?" Her face was as still as a statue, looking at their hands.

"Too show. It's buried. Almost not even a part of me...and yet it can take over and bleed out everything else. Like waves crashing on the sand and washing away what's left behind. Sandcastles, footprints, memories. Gone. Changed, in the blink of an eye." She let her hand fall away from his and started to walk back inside, leaving him to stare after her confused. A most natural state for him these days.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

Tony Stark hated Thanksgiving. He'd never had much use for the holiday before, being the solitary creature that he is, before joining up with the Avengers, Pepper would order in a dinner and they both would eat, sometimes Rhoadey would join them if he wasn't busy. Now his house had been invaded by multiple mouths to feed, a Pepper who actually wanted to home cook the meal, and a Thor, who could eat enough food for four people and still have room for more. His kitchen was a disaster, there had been fights over food and he was pretty sure if he never looked at another turkey it would be to soon.

Thor had remarked that this holiday reminded him of the great feasts of Asgard, which were frequently depending on what remarkable feat of strength any warrior performed and that he should introduce the custom of giving thanks to his people. Loki had rolled her eyes at her brother and replied back that the Aesir needed no excuse to be gluttons. That had turned into an argument resulting in Thor saying that Loki ate like a bird anyway and two hours of chasing around a large, Thor turkey that was running around his kitchen the next minute. Clint and Bruce had been no help, too busy laughing their asses off and if Pepper hadn't been freaking out about feathers all over the food and the kitchen, Tony would have sat laughing as well. Until the Thor bird had started to angrily peck at everyone. He eyed the scratches left by the birds claws all over his hands.

He wanted everyone to leave. For all of them to bugger off and go back to wherever they had been staying since Loki had moved into the mansion. He could still hear their voices shouting from where they were having dessert in the living room. He buried his head in his pillow.

Hands ran up his back, causing him to shiver. Feather light kisses were being placed against his neck, causing him to sigh. He could feel her straddling his waist, rubbing at the muscles under his skin. "Shouldn't you be downstairs, wrestling your brother away from the food?"

"I've done that enough for any lifetime. Let him eat himself into a coma. He will regret it in the morning," she said, swinging her legs off him to sit down next to him indian style. He looked at her through the corner of his tired eyes, she was holding a piece of apple pie.

"Should I be worried. I've read myths. I take one bite and I'm tied to you forever," he joked, taking the plate and fork from her.

"Hades and Persephone. Lovely people. Quite good in bed too. Like a little adventure in their marriage."

Tony gaped at her completely straight expression with his fork halfway to his mouth. Well if Norse gods were real, why not others? He really hoped that sex thing was a lie.

"You are joking right? Have I got some weird alien sex disease now?" Loki smirked at him and his eyes squeezed shut. He should have Jarvis check for alien STD's. How does one even check for those? And he had thought he was a playboy. His track record was probably nothing next to someone who'd lived a thousand years. What if he was horrible in bed? A low notch on Loki's bedpost.

"Eat the pie. I made it," she insisted, not answering him but playfully placing her feet on his lap.

"Will it cure alien STD's?" He ate a bite. It was really good. Probably the best apple pie he'd ever had and he didn't even really care for apple pie to begin with. Loki could cook, who knew. Or maybe he'd just conjured it up from thin air.

"Yes. And impotence." Tony growled at her, and tugged at her feet, drawing her closer, playing with the buttons of her shirt.

"I am very far from impotent," he pouted. She plucked the fork from his hand and stabbed at a piece of pie on the plate, wrapping her lips around the fork. Her tongue came out in little kitten licks after she'd swallowed her morsel, licking the sticky bits clinging to the metal. Her could feel himself hardening and knew it was poking into the back of her thighs. She smirked, handing the fork back to him.

"No, you're not." She kissed him and he could taste the apples on her tongue. He tossed the empty plate on to the floor and placed his hands on her hips, not really caring anymore about alien STD's.

The noise downstairs had tapered off into nothing, his expensive suit that Pepper had painstakingly had dry cleaned for him was somewhere on the floor and he had a lap full of a pretty, naked god after having not gotten off in near to a month with anyone but his own right hand. So he could totally not be blamed for not hearing his door being opened until Loki's lips were gone from his and he saw her looking too calmly at the doorway.

"Starkson! Brother!"

Fuck.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad...Thor knew they'd had sex before. The proof was staring him right in the face after all and Tony certainly didn't want to think about how Loki made no modest sibling like attempt to cover herself. He himself was just thankful her lower half was covering his. Thor looked like a gaping fish actually.

"Cover yourself Loki," his voice had dropped to a low tone Tony had never heard before, "Leave. I must talk to Anthony Stark." What? Leave? Leave him alone with Thor. Of all the times Loki really didn't need to listen to her brother, it was right now. He gripped her hips tighter. For about two seconds. She was gone the next. Traitor.

Thor kept his stony gaze on Tony. "We must talk. I was not aware of you and my brother's continuing relations. Do I have a problem with you Starkson? You will not marry him but he is enough as some...whore? I know of your reputation and I will put a stop to it now!"

Tony could actually feel himself getting irritated, "Your brother is a thousand fucking years old Thor! He does whatever the hell he wants. It's how we're in this situation to begin with! You think anyone could coercer him to do something he didn't want to? No fucking wonder you two have misunderstandings!"

Thor was back to the gaping fish expression. Tony could give a crap. He needed a scotch and wouldn't mind seeing Thor back as a turkey right now. The man was a moron. An overprotective moron.

"You are right...we do not understand each other. But Loki is more easily hurt then you realize. If there are any feelings involved here on his side and he gets hurt...I will visit upon you the greatest of Asgardian horrors." Thor left with that last threat and Tony groaned. He was 100% sure if there were feelings here, they weren't Loki's. He eyed the empty plate he'd thrown on the floor...maybe 90% sure.

"Stark," Tony looked up from where he was fiddling with one of his cars to see Coulson standing in the middle of the room. The man was usually unnervingly stoic seeming but he seemed a bit nervous right now.

"What's up? Something on fire?" He tossed his wrench onto a table and sat trying to get the engine grease off his hangs with a rag, looking at Coulson. He was looking at the ultrasound Pepper had practically dragged Loki too go to a few days before. The god had protested about puny human practices and how she could do better then any ultrasound at seeing if her baby was fine and healthy but went anyway. They had come back a few hours later with a bunch of stuff for baby girls, and an ultrasound that Pepper had shoved at him excitedly. Loki had been smiling as well and had gone up to the room set aside for the baby, bags and toys following behind her without being carried. The ultrasound showed a healthy looking baby with ten fingers and ten toes, a couple of weeks from being full term. Tony could admit to feeling a slight bit of relief at no sign of a tail. He could have had Jarvis do an X-Ray scan himself but couldn't quite bring himself to do it without Loki's knowledge.

Thor had loudly proclaimed his joy at being an uncle to a baby girl and had dragged Steve and Clint and Bruce off to get drunk in celebration. Tony had not gone with them because he and the golden headed god were on thin ice terms lately, since Thor had burst in on him and Loki together. Their conversations were stilted and Thor watched him with narrowed eyes as if one wrong step and he would be within perfect rights to turn him into jam.

"No. Things have still been all quiet on that front. Fury thinks he should start planning for Armageddon. No, I'm here about other matters." Here Coulson stopped and seemed to take a deep breath.

"S.H.I.E.L.D is frankly not comfortable with the situation in which you have placed yourself in. Never the less, they are prepared to offer a discreet hospital for when Loki has the baby."

Tony started at him. He could see the sweat beading on Coulson's forehead and he narrowed his eyes, "How generous. Tell me, would that be before or after Loki blasted them to hell? What kind of hospital room would this be, somewhere she can't leave? And then what, my baby goes bye bye into the system? Or would you actually give her back to me? What then? Because I'll tell you one thing right now, no way in hell do I trust Fury or his higher ups when it comes to my situation farther then Pepper could throw you. So I suggest you leave now before I do something that you will definitely regret Coulson."

"Stark this is not my decision. I am here as the informant, my opinion on this doesn't matter. But you have to face the facts. Loki's not your wife or your girlfriend. She's playing nice now because she needs something from you and the second that baby is born, what happens then? We have to be prepared for the contingencies. This is not some happy Knocked Up story Stark. You have had the enemy in your home for months."

"Get out. Now." His voice was low and his face stony and Coulson left. Tony hoped that he ran into Thor. Hell Tony hoped he ran into Loki.

Loki. He didn't fool himself that she didn't know that S.H.I.E.L.D would want the baby. If she was hiding from Asgard she would defiantely have plans about hiding or dealing with S.H.I.E.L.D. But he didn't think whatever was happening between the two of them was one of them. She knew enough about him to know that he could be a possessive bastard, the baby was still his child whether he trusted the mother or not.

Still...Fury's camera's were still all around. He had wondered why Fury hadn't been saying anything about Tony and Loki's sexual escapades until she explained that she didn't show up on the camera when she didn't want to. She didn't cloak herself all the time. And she wasn't invincible. He grabbed the phone and dialed, "Pepper I need you to get something for me."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

Tony didn't even blink when the image of a slightly irritated Loki appeared in the bathroom mirror behind him, preoccupied with trying his tie. He hated these things. Who in their right minds thought it was a good fashion idea for men to have the equivalent of nooses around their necks?

"What is this," she demanded, brandishing the green and black fabric she had in her hands. He smirked at her through the mirror.

"It's a dress."

"I am aware of that. Why did I find it on the bed?"

"Because you're going to wear it. Tonight. I had Pepper go out and get it for you, short notice. You've got about an hour to get ready."

Loki glared at him, "I see and where am I suppose to be wearing this to? And for what reason?"

"Me and you are going out. I'm told that's what expecting parents do, go out and sow whatever wild oats they have before they're tied down by a screaming baby. There's this gala event I have to be at, business thing, boring really, but I need a date. So, we're going out."

"Take a call girl," she told him, pouting. Tony actually had taken several call girls to gala events but that would defeat the purpose. And they were not nearly have as interesting as Loki would be.

"No. Just...put the dress on. Do your hair," he said, bringing in a slightly pleading, pathetic tone to his voice, hoping to appeal to her better nature. "Think of it as an adventure into the mind of petty businessmen. Get to know them and you can have fun manipulating them. Not as fun as blowing up banks probably, but what do you have to loose? Go out and find new victims to have fun with or turn your brother into a turkey again? Gets old doesn't it?"

She stared at him and then promptly disappeared. Tony felt that he had won that argument.

Think again.

Apparently one of Loki's many talents in the magical arts was the ability to take a dress in five minutes and recreate it. Instead of the ankle length skirt, it now fell to right above her knees with slits up the sides meant to entice by showing glimpses of pale legs with every movement. She had gotten a pair of high heels that laced up her lower legs and made her female form just as tale as him, and the dress had slits for sleeves and no back, with a plunging neckline showing Loki's predilection for never wearing a bra. Not something Tony ever really had a problem with and he had noticed with amusement, Clint and Bruce as well. Steve was too much of a gentlemen to look. Her hair had been forced into looser curls then her hair naturally took and she was wearing eyeliner that drew attention to her green eyes and of course, red lipstick. The definition of hell in high heels.

In fake the only thing that Loki had basically left of the dress was its loose waist that was ruffled. The effect sort of hid her pregnant stomach at first glance, but to someone looking, noticeable. Tony had wanted that effect and had specifically gotten Pepper to get one like it. It had been her idea for modesty and Loki's idea to change and torment Tony to driving with a hard on.

She also hadn't said a word to him since she'd gotten in the car. The silent treatment. An experience he knew well enough with Pepper, never with her. She usually talked about something, even if it was a complete lie.

The twenty minute car ride seemed to take longer then usual but he finally pulled up to the event. Loki was outside of the car before he was and he rolled his eyes. Couldn't even let him open the door as a show for the gawkers.

"Sulkiness isn't as attractive as you might think you know," he said, taking her hand.

"If I was sulky Tony, you would know it," she replied and her expression shifted as they entered the room and were by all accounts suddenly accosted with curious guests, all wanting to know who his date was. And all who noticed of course. Good. Loki was as charming and manipulative as she ever could be, managing to make half the old businessmen in the room in love with her by the time the appetizers for dinner rolled around and the women in the room envious but drawn to her. He felt secure enough to leave her to get some drinks after about an hour.

"Tony," a high, annoying voice said next to his ear as her walked up to the bar. He plastered on a fake smile and looked at Justin Hammer, his long time rival and an all around annoying twit. "Haven't seen you in a while. Looks like you've been...busy." He cast a glance back at where Loki was surrounded by about three young men, all looking enraptured.

"I have actually. But even if I wasn't, I would still be too busy for you," Tony shot back and then turned to the bartender to order his drink and a glass of iced tear for her.

"Funny. Yours? Or just that desperate for a date you're paying her money that she'll be needing soon?"

"I've never been as desperate for a date as you Hammer, so I've never had to resort to those methods. Do tell how do they work out for you usually?" Normally he would have already escaped from Hammer's tedious company but he was serving his purpose at the moment, considering the curious lack of reporters at this gala. There was a fair amount of society gossips though, trying not to look like they were listening to the two billionaires talking.

"I don't get any complaints," Hammer snarked back and he heard one of the women standing near them giggle.

"Well neither have I. But yes," his voice getting louder making sure that a number of the people around him would here, "she is having my baby. Another Stark to best you when it comes to technology will be here soon." He smirked as the people exploded into whispers and sauntered off, reappearing next to Loki's side, shooing away her new admirers and handing her the ice tea. She looked shocked. She had heard as well.

"What exactly was that about," she asked in a hissing voice. Tony reached to sweep back one of the curls from her eyes and he could hear the clicking sound of someones camera phone.

"Insurance. That was insurance." Loki wasn't the only one who could make contingency plans.

They spent another few hours at the gala, dancing a bit and interacting with the curious guests, of course all wondering who the mother to be of Tony Stark's child was and when was the wedding and all the usual questions people asked to your face while they talked behind your back. Tony endured it all and then took Loki's arm and ignored the cameras suddenly in their faces as they stepped outside, both of them offering no comment to the reporters. News certainly did travel fast with the invention of the internet.

The story was on the news by the time they got back to the mansion and Clint, Thor and Steve were gathered around the television in the living room. Loki disappeared to go take off the dress and heels and Tony poured himself a drink, walking to sit down on the couch next to Steve. Clint scowled upon seeing him, muttering, "You crazy bastard."

Thor was giving him a look of grudging approval and Tony really didn't want to explain to the god why exactly Tony had created a national spectacle of his sibling and their child. Steve was giving him questioning looks, obviously confused as to why the formerly reluctant Tony had just come out with the story.

A familiar blonde reporter was asking questions to the other guests. Speculation on how much of a genius his child would end up being, questions about the mother. Loki had named herself Lucy Silvers in their presence and they said she seemed very intelligent and mysterious. He flipped through the channels. The story was running on every news station. He was willing to bet it was even trending on twitter.

His phone vibrated on the table. He looked at the caller I.D. and got up off the couch, making a show of walking back into the kitchen for another drink, waiting till he was out of earshot to answer.

"Stark."

"Quite a show you put on. Tell me Stark, what kind of a publicity stunt do you think you were fucking pulling," Fury's angry voice sounded into his ear. He took a swallow of the last of his drink.

"Exactly what you just called it. A publicity stunt. I'm a household name Nick. Media advantage. I'm willing to bet if after the day my daughter was born I didn't show up holding her in the hospital there would be a thousand people all around the world wondering what the hell is going on. Not so easy to make a baby disappear whom everyone knows about. They start asking questions. Brings attention. Attention S.H.I.E.L.D probably doesn't want."

"You are treading on thin ice Stark. S.H.I.E.L.D aren't the only ones interested in this and I would have made sure that she didn't get hurt. I don't think any of the others would have." The called ended as Fury hung up and Tony sighed.

"You're more devious then I give you credit for," Loki's voice came from where she was now sitting on the counter. Probably been there the whole time. She was looking at him with an expression that reminded him of a lion. Or not at him, but at the phone. Her eyes were soft, almost fond looking at him.

"Thank you," the words came out soft, almost unable to be heard. Tony smiled.

"I did it as much for me as you," he said. Loki twitched her lips into a very thin smile, almost a smirk. Her hand went to his cheek, stroking the skin there.

"I know. If they touch one hair on her head you know that I will not hesitate to kill them all. I need you to understand that. I will let no one take her from me. Not your agency, not anyone seeking to use her for some nefarious purpose of their own, not my brother. Not even you."

"I wouldn't expect you too," he answered, not surprised at the bitter, vicious tone her voice had taken on, nor the wild look in her eyes. The makeup she'd been wearing had been washed away and he could see dark circles under her eyes, how tired she looked. The pregnancy and all her magic was draining her energy, but not her spirit it seemed. Her head dropped against his chest as she closed her eyes for a second, breathing low and angry. He bent down to pick her up from behind her knees, walking out of the kitchen and up the stairs. No words of protest left her as he laid her down in his own bed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**:

Loki was getting weak. It seemed the strain of the pregnancy and her magic keeping control and literally forcing itself not to turn back to her default male shape was beginning to leech it's energy from her. As the end of the pregnancy drew near she spent more time sleeping and Thor had taken to pacing outside her bedroom, armed with his hammer like a guard outside an ancient royal birthing chamber. Which Tony guessed in some weird way it was.

Pepper had gotten her a ton of books from the bookstore, all on Tony's credit of course because why would Loki use any money she had for anything when Tony could provide and a bunch of other things Pepper seemed to think would entertain her. A television, which as much as Thor always was, Loki seemed equal parts fascinated and disdainful of the earth device. Tony often wondered how Asgardians went living thousands of years without mindlessly blowing away hours in front of a tv.

Tony had Jarvis frequently updating him on what occurred in and around the bedroom. It seemed that she was no longer able to extend her magic to cloak herself whenever she felt like it and Tony was absolutely worried about that. He had wondered a few times how it was that a god who could literally raise the ocean to turn into tsunami sized waves had possibly had six children taken away from her. Every time he went to see her she looked more and more tired, like the magic was literally eating at her trying to stay in control of the shapeshifted form to protect it's offspring. She was almost as helpless as a human, easy enough to control for a while as she recovered from birth. Bye bye baby.

He also had Jarvis change the codes to get into the mansion, Fury and Coulson and anyone affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D no longer had the easiest access to his home. Not of course that it could stop them from eventually getting in but he'd have enough warning to put on a suit and make for the hills if need be. He hadn't wanted to let Thor and Steve in on what had occured the week before but had forced himself to spill as the magic that would have served Loki well disappeared temporarily by now rapid increments. Hence Thor's guardian stake out of the bedroom. No one would be getting past him and his hammer.

Steve and Pepper had been tasked with finding of all things a midwife. Tony didn't trust any Doctor's from local hospitals not to be paid off and figured women who commonly acted as midwives for other women would be more trustworthy. And discreet. He was known as a high profile guy, technological. No one would expect anyone giving birth to his baby to have a completely natural birth without the bonus of drugs and doctors. They had yet to find one up to Loki and Thor's high standards. Royal brats. As a precaution he himself hadn't met any of them and they were brought to Steve's apartment, just in case one went talking to a reporter.

She was also having night terrors. Normally so mysterious when awake, asleep she tossed and turned and her worry came out. Tony noticed Thor had stopped saying anything now that he had all but moved himself into the bedroom for the time being, not trusting himself to wake up immediately in light of an emergency. Loki would scowl at him but he knew that she was grateful, despite all that she didn't say.

She had her eyes closed and was singing softly when he walked into the room that night. Words that sounded ancient and practiced, in a low, lilting tone. Tony couldn't understand a word but the feel of the song was one of love and protection.

"What are you singing?"

"M...Frigga use to sing it to me, as a child. When I couldn't sleep," she replied, hitching herself up in the bed. He sat down next to her. The dark circles under her eyes looked deeper, her face and lips had been bleached of all color, which seemed to make her black hair and green eyes seem even more oddly vibrant.

"Frigga?" A nanny perhaps?

"My...adoptive mother," she said bitterly. Adoptive? Had he known that? He couldn't recall ever once hearing that Loki had been adopted, Thor had certainly never let anyone on to that fact. It must have shown on his face.

"Thor will tell you it doesn't matter. But he's not the one lied to all his life, he's not the one that was to be used as a pawn in their war games," she spat out. She wasn't looking at him, rubbing at her left arm up and down like she was trying to scratch her own skin off.

He drew a breath and cautiously spoke, "Who's war games?" He didn't expect an answer, use to not getting the truth or any answers at all from the god sitting next to him, but her tiredness and maybe loneliness prompted her to speak. It was perhaps the most he'd ever heard her say, that was every word of it true.

"For a long time the Asgardians were at war with their names, Jotunheim. The Jotun are as unlike the Aesir as night is from day, they are in a child's words the stuff of nightmares. We grew up hearing tales of how horrible they were. Our bogeymen. A thousand years I believed that I was Odin and Frigga's true son, though I did not always feel that my father loved me. All the things he'd done, holding up Thor as the golden son, taking away my children, pushing me aside. A thousand years it took me to find out why. I'm the monster from my own childhood, abandoned and left to die and then taken and raised to serve. His war trophy locked away in the gold halls of Asgard and kept on a shelf, to be used when it was needed."

Tony had her head on his shoulder by the time she was done telling him about her origins, trying to think of something to say back. Not the best at being comforting at the best of times, but as a man who'd grow up with his own parent relation troubles, he knew exactly the kind of emotions that eat at a person when they felt unloved.

In the end the only thing he ended up saying to her was, "I'm sorry." His own heart twisted when he felt her shaking, a low bitter laughing sob filled the room. He continued to embrace her until she fell back into her troubled sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**:

"Stark, grab your keys for your metal horse. Loki needs to you to take him to this address. Ms. Potts handed it to us, it is one of the midwives. She was unfortunately called away. I can not find Steve and Loki does not trust me to attempt to control the car," Thor said, walking into his garage, dressed as civilian as Thor would ever get.

"Did you forget we decided it was best for me not to draw attention by coming along? Loki can't drive?" The address written out on the scrap of paper was at least five hours away. Thor and Loki had already vetoed all the women in the surrounding area, so Pepper had expanded her search.

"Just get the keys Tony. I have no idea where the hell I'm going," Loki snapped at him as she followed Thor into the garage. She barely looked like she should be up and walking right now, let alone going on a five hour trip somewhere. Her curls were tossed back into a half assed ponytail and she was wearing sweatpants. He didn't think Loki would normally be caught dead in those. "You can stay in the car. Most of them are tinted anyway." She sat down in a chair looking exhausted as she waited for Tony to get his ass of his own chair and find his keys, arms wrapped around her stomach. Tony felt like he was walking on eggshells when he finally found his keys and helped her out of the chair and to the car.

Thor slide into the shotgun after they made Loki comfortable in the back and he turned on the GPS, typing in the address Pepper had written out and studied Loki through the mirror. Her head was tipped back against the seat and her eyes were closed. She looked ill. He handed Thor a bottle of water to give to her.

"Loki, drink this," Thor said, reaching back to hand the water to his sibling. His big forearm hit Tony in the shoulder as he twisted. Tony couldn't see what was happening now through the mirror, Thor's body blocking the view. He felt Thor move forward abruptly and he jerked the steering wheel out of shock, swerving onto the shoulder, and Loki uttered what sounded like a curse. Crap. What the fuck was happening? They were out in the country, miles from their destination. The car slammed into the telephone pole before he could stop it.

"Tony, how much farther are we?" The question made him panic and he tried to keep it out of his voice.

"Why?" He knew before they even said anything what was happening. They were still four hours away. He had driven away from any sign of life and there were no cars passing by. The hood of the car was smashed in and it would take time to fix. They were alone, with a now in labor goddess who was as helpless as a mortal at the moment and clueless as to what the hell to do. He really wished they'd stayed home.

Forty minutes later they had the seats pulled back so that there was room in the backseat and Thor was standing to the outside of the car, the door was open. Tony had so far been able to hold in his panic because he was arguing with Loki about calling someone, anyone. She was refusing, saying that she'd done this before all by herself, the first time. Thor had quietly reminded her that she'd been in the shape of a horse at the time, that she'd been lucky she hadn't died, and she'd lashed out with all her strength to kick at her brother.

"None of us have any idea what the hell we are doing here!" She shot him a poisonous look, hair plastered to her forehead and breathing heavy. And he refused to look at the mess in his car but there was something a lot like blood there. Was there usually blood in the pre-birth? He cursed that he hadn't bothered to read about that while reading the how to parent books.

"Fuck just...just help me sit up. Thor! Don't you dare, I know what you are thinking. Promise me! Don't you dare!" Her angry words let off into a silent scream as a contraction hit her and Tony grabbed her hand, which promptly almost crushed his own fingers.

"Loki I do not like this. You refuse to let Stark call a helicopter, something must be done," Thor argued. Loki had stated that she didn't trust that his helicopters couldn't be replaced and hijacked in the space of three seconds and that he wasn't to call 911 because of tracking devices on his phone. How the hell had S.H.I.E.L.D done that without his knowledge was something Tony would worry about later, but he was getting to the point where he didn't care. How had no cars at all passed them by within forty minutes. He knew because he'd been glancing out the window every minute hoping to flag someone down.

"Don't do what? What do you want to do," he asked Thor and he felt Loki deliberately squeeze his fingers harder at the question. Her lips were bitten through and he could see spots of blood there and he saw her shudder.

"Don't you dare. I mean it," she hissed out through the contraction, "Don't. I swear I will really kill you this time."

"Do what," Tony heard himself snap out, voice raised. Thor looked torn between worry and guilt.

"Too many in childbirth die without help Loki," Thor said, "Do you want that to happen? Magic won't help you right now."

"That's a risk I'll take! Tony...just...look for me, see how far apart I am," she breathed out. Tony's eyebrows shot up and he felt his heart start to race, "Do..do what? No. I don't...I can't. Weapons makers aren't designed for this. I'm not...no, not if this is going to end up killing you."

"For fuck's sake, I won't die. And if I do just make sure she survives," Loki complained, eyes holding a pained, manic gleam to them. Tony felt himself go numb at the thought. Her voice was barely coming out, even through the contractions, and her head collapsed onto the back of the seat. He shot a panicked stricken look at Thor, who was wrestling with himself.

Loki uttered a cry at the same time that a loud, thunderous sound seemed to shake apart the ground beneath them. He could see Thor's look of shock but he didn't look away from where Loki was now trying to scramble, feebly, past him to get at something. He felt like the world was in a daze as he was suddenly pushed away by a blonde woman, voice low and commanded as she told Loki to push.

He looked out the window and saw a...pirate. Or a guy with an eyepatch. He was blonde and large and Thor was arguing with him, an arm out in a gesture that looked like he was keeping him back. He looked at the woman helping Loki, who was making Loki desperate because she was shaking her head and muttering no. Fuck.

Tony had never felt more helpless in his life. Which was saying something considering the months he'd spent as a prisoner of war. He'd built the Iron Man suit in that situation and in this one, well, he hadn't thought to bring it. He cursed his lack of foresight and shot anxious glances between both situations. The two arguing blonde gods and his own god currently in a lot of pain and giving birth to their daughter.

It was a surreal situation. The kind of stuff you expect to happen in a comedy movie or an episode of Friends, not in real life. Course anyone would tell you this would be Tony Stark's luck. All his careful planning and it goes down the drain because his royal brat of a mother to be hadn't picked a damn midwife before the baby decided it was tired of being inside mommy. It was like having an out of body experience and one in which he could hope was a nightmare, but knew wasn't. He tried to think of a what to do. Anything to do.

"You need to push, just one more time," he could hear Loki's mother telling the tired woman, voice sounding far away. He looked at her face, strained and panicked. Frigga hadn't bothered to look at him, focused on birthing the baby and he wondered if there was some way he'd be able to grab at her or something if they had to find a quick way out of this situation. She'd probably be able to kick his ass, she'd raised Thor and Loki after all, but anything was worth a try.

Loki let out one last shuddering gasp and then Tony heard the most beautiful sound in the world. His daughter. Crying. He looked at her. She was perfect. Skin just as pale as her mother's, tufts of dark hair on top of her head...no tail, though at this point Tony doubted he'd have cared. He wanted to reach out and grab her out of Frigga's arms. He didn't need to. The woman placed her in his own arms, her small weight feeling like the world. Loki had tears on her face and Frigga was muttering some other things. The afterbirth. He was going to have to get rid of this car, no way it was ever going to be clean again. Already making mischief, this little one.

He chanced to look away from his little girl's bloody face and saw Odin had overpowered Thor and was moving towards the car. Fuck. The one time Thor didn't have his damn hammer. No...wait he had the hammer, it was just being carried by Odin. Had there been a brawl when he wasn't looking? Loki looked tired and was scowling, a glare fixed on Odin like Tony's never seen on his face before. Yeah his. It seemed that his body had abruptly shifted back as soon as it could when the labor was over, his energy and magic still drained, but no longer needing to hold on to the female form.

"Loki," the man boomed...well it sounded like booming. Asgardians had clearly never learned the value of inside voices. Loki abruptly wrenched himself away from his mother, who'd been trying to wipe the sweat off his face or something, Tony wasn't quite sure. Numbly he handed the baby to Loki, who held her with a death grip and stepped in front of the door to the car, blocking them from view. He was keenly aware of the fact that he was outmatched. He'd have been outmatched even if Odin wasn't carrying that hammer, but he didn't care.

"Back away, now."

"Move boy, this is nothing that should concern you," the man said. Tony stood his ground.

"I'm that girl's father, this concerns me more then it does anyone but your son," he replied with an edge to his voice that normally would have sent people who knew him to be far away.

Frigga let out a tiny gasp from behind him and he heard Loki's low, male voice speak next, "Tony move out of the way, now." He looked back over his shoulder and felt himself start in shock. He saw Thor move forward to get at his mother and drag her away.

Loki was pointing a gun at Odin. A gun. Which he had apparently hidden in his car at some point. He moved to the side and Loki shakily got out of the car to stand.

"Loki, son, what are you doing?" It was Frigga who asked the question. Odin's face was unchanged from the same blank as steel expression he'd had when Tony had stood in front of the car door. Loki's on the other hand was angry and fierce and brought to mind wolves protecting their young.

"I will not let you take her from me. I could do nothing before but I will use this. It's no mortal gun, I've altered it. Take one step near me and you will take no more," he said, gun straight and aimed at his adoptive father.

Thor and Frigga shifted, Thor clearly wrestling with himself about what to do, his brother was after all threatening his dad but for a good reason. Tony was all on board with the plan to blow Odin to hell.

"You have it wrong Loki. We are not here to take her from you," Frigga said. Loki kept his eyes on Odin, but Tony looked at her. She seemed desperate, he wondered if she was lying. Would she lie?

"Tell that to every other child I've had. If you can find them," Loki spat out bitterly. Tony could hear his daughter crying.

"You never understood," Odin spoke, "You never understood that what I did, I did to protect you. Fenrir and Jörmungandr were killing you, they needed to much from you. Your magical energy would not have lasted, so I took them where they could grow without harm."

Loki let out a shuddering half mad laugh, "And Hel? What was so wrong with her? What did I need protecting from with her?"

"I made a mistake. It is hard to admit to. I believed the child dead as she was born and I took her away before you could see. Your mother and I wanted to spare you the pain of a dead child. It was only after that I learned she had lived, been found and taken in by a family in Niflheim."

"And yet never brought her home. You left her there. Was I so unfit to be her parent?" Loki sneered. He hadn't put down the gun. His grip on it had tightened but his hand was shaking. Whether from nerves or from exhaustion Tony wasn't sure.

"She loved her adoptive parents. I did not want to rip apart their lives. It was why I never told you the secrets of your own birth, I felt it better you did not know. What did it gain you?"

"Liar! You never cared about me."

"Loki, we love you." It was Frigga's voice that said it and Thor let go of her as she moved forward. She obviously wasn't too worried about being shot with the gun because she didn't hesitate to envelop her son in a hug. Loki made a move as if to pull away, looking over the top of her head at Odin.

"All of us." Tony caught the gun as it fell from Loki's hand. Thor was taking the hammer back from his father, apologizing for trying to hit him with it. The baby was still crying, and still naked. Tony shrugged out of his jacket to wrap it around her.

He opened his mouth to speak, "So...does that mean I don't need to get killed while I give them the chance to run away? Cause I'm fully prepared to do that." He wondered if putting his foot in his mouth was a talent that would endear his daughter's grandparents to him. Thor laughed.

"Killed? For what? Doing what any father would do?"

Tony shrugged, "Well...you know, situation kind of makes it sound like you're the big bad wolf who eats children walking through the woods. So yeah, prepared to die." And he had been. Not even when he'd been dying a slow death by poisoning those months with the palladium had he been so prepared to die for something. His daughter's tiny fist waved out of the jacket. She had red eyes. They were beautiful actually.

"You wouldn't have died," Frigga said. "You are no longer a mortal man Tony Stark."

He didn't miss the look of genuine surprise that Loki shot his mother before his brain froze.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**:

Odin and Frigga wanted to bring Loki and Asta, their newly named daughter, back to Asgard with them.

It had taken a few minutes but Frigga had managed to get a hold of the memory of The Avenger's mansion well enough in her mind from the three men thinking about it to bring everyone back. None had been up to walking and Tony hadn't wanted to think about how long they might be waiting for a car to pass them by. His own car had been left on the side of the road and he idly wondered if he should call a pick up truck to get it.

His head was spinning from the events of the rest of the night. He was no longer mortal. Still human but apparently not going to die. Frigga had explained that she had taken it upon herself to send a servant down to Earth to deliver something called Idunn's apples to his house. Thor and Loki and even Odin had been shocked by that for apparently it was rare to get a hold of these apples. The day that Loki had made him pie and brought it to him was apparently the day he had unknowingly made Tony immortal.

But hey not such a bad fate really. Frigga had probably given the world a gift, not to mention himself. He wouldn't die and be forgotten like every other great inventor in history but he could see the future come to pass. He could watch advances in technology and medicine. Who wouldn't wish to live forever? But what gift was this if he couldn't go with them?

He didn't want to live without Asta. Or, he admitted almost reluctantly to himself, Loki. And no human had apparently ever stepped foot on Asgard, Thor admitted that he wasn't even allowed to bring Jane there.

And they wanted to bring Loki back to their home. Asta, despite her almost completely human appearance was the child of a god. She wasn't human and S.H.I.E.L.D, enemies that he'd made in life, Loki's enemies, all of them on earth would want to use her, or control her. His stunt with the public media would not hold S.H.I.E.L.D back forever, Tony knew that. Nor would Doom or any other villain particularly care. And while Loki's magic would soon be back, as Asta got older they would not be near her every minute of every day. Human children went to school, hung out with friends, wandered off. A number of things could go wrong. He knew that. It would be for the best. Tony just had a hard time letting his heart agree with his head.

"I am told that you are quite a rich man, here on Midgard." Loki's mother had wandered out on the balcony it seemed. She seemed a bit bewildered by a lot of the stuff in Tony's house, like the television. Tony remembered that Asgard didn't have tvs, and Thor had spent some time trying to explain the little he knew about the television to his father. Loki had taken Asta upstairs and was probably passed out next to her crib.

"Yes. For all that's worth," he said, studying her. Though there was no physical resemblance between her and Loki, her trick with the apples showed that some traits went beyond genetics. He had to admire her. He just didn't understand why.

"You are wondering why I gave you the gift of immortality, but did not gift it to Jane Foster," she said, smiling serenely.

"A bit yeah."

"Jane Foster is a lovely girl, but she is not what the fates hold for my son. Not in anything that I have seen. And I have seen many things. This was one small, obscure timeline that I have seen. I have seen my youngest happy. It is so rare that I could not, in good conscience, let that slip away from him when he has been in so much turmoil in his own head. That is why."

"Asta makes him happy?" She spoke in as much riddles as Loki did and Tony was a little tired of the gods and their mind games. Made him want to be a father and then the possibility of that ripped away to go off to some distant planet while he lived out his life here? Didn't sit to well.

"Yes. And so will you. Whatever choice the two of you make."

He tried to get her to talk more but she didn't seem any more inclined to answer him so after a few minutes he went back inside, sparing a second glance at the two blonde gods enraptured by the television and wandering past his own room to go to Loki's.

He was sitting on the bed, holding a sleeping Asta. She'd been cleaned up and dressed properly in baby clothes and Loki hadn't once put her down. Even with Odin telling Loki that he had no intention of taking her, Loki didn't seem inclined to let away from him. Tony thought it should be weird, the sudden change from woman to man, but it wasn't. Tony bent to pull off his shoes before sitting next to him, careful not to jostle the bed to much so that he didn't wake her up, though he wanted to see her open her eyes and look at him.

"Should I ask how you managed to get that gun in my car?" He didn't want to talk about the elephant in the room, the fact that Loki might pack up tomorrow and be gone with their daughter.

Loki let out a small laugh, smirking at him, "I hid them in all your cars. Also almost every drawer in this house. Your friend has quite a lot of guns. I also made him teach me how to work them properly."

"Rhodey? But...he's never met you," Tony said, mind reeling at the fact that there were probably hundreds of guns hidden around the place. Not that Clint didn't have his own share of them but he kept them in his room.

"So he thinks. Too him I was just a pregnant woman in need of protection from her abusive boyfriend."

"And all the villains? I haven't missed that it was quiet for months. No one did." Tony had never asked it, he hadn't wanted to jinx anything.

"I manipulated them into pursuing their other hobbies for the time being. Bird watching, golf, those kinds of things. It won't last forever of course, the mind is only suspectiable to so much, but it has lasted a surprisingly long while so far, given the decrease of magic."

Tony nodded. He knew it couldn't last forever, this quiet. The Avengers were even getting restless with no foe to beat up. Clint had taken to playing video games, blowing up imaginary villains. Steve had been talking about opening up an art gallery to give himself something to do. Who knew how Natasha was occupying herself.

He smiled down at his sleeping daughter. Thought about her first words, her first steps, the first time she managed to surpass all her other classmates. Though about graduations and teenager temper tantrums and bail money. Thought about first dates and reporters following her into Starbucks. Thought about Fury. Thought about his daughter looked up in some cell in a government building somewhere, experimented on. Thought about her being used, becoming a soldier, put into a line of fire. Thought about long nights spent worrying, desperate to find traces of someone gone.

He thought about spending every day with her and with Loki and raising her with the rebellious, crafty god. He wanted it. He could picture it so easily in his head, easier then he could picture anything before. He could picture everyday, the bad ones and the good ones. And he pictured a desperate Loki tearing apart cities to find her, going mad. Was this how he was to make Frigga's son happy? This decision that was tearing at every cell in Tony's body?

"You should take her home."

It had been four days. It had taken four days for Loki to get back to his full magical strength and he had watched Asta like a hawk the whole time. And hadn't spoken a word to Tony since the night Tony told him they should go. Tony knew it was for the best but the cold shoulder from the mother of his child felt like a knife in the gut. Even when they were in the same room with their daughter it felt like a void was between them that even when they were enemies hadn't been there. Tony would be fooling himself if he said it didn't crush him.

Thor had made his unhappiness very clear. He couldn't be in the same room as Tony without holding up his hammer threateningly. Tony knew what was going through his mind. That Tony was done with them now that he didn't have to take care of them and was going to go back to living his billionaire, playboy lifestyle. It couldn't be farther then the truth but he didn't feel like explaining himself to Thor when Loki hadn't even let him explain himself before shutting him out.

The four days that Odin and Frigga had been waiting for Loki and Asta to come home with them had been fraught with tension. It should have been days of sleepless nights and fond staring, watching every new thing their baby did as if it held all the secrets of the universe but Tony was keenly aware that every moment he spent with her was well on it's way to being the last.

The rest of the Avengers were torn between being in awe of the little baby, walking on tiptoes around the gods, and wondering when and if S.H.I.E.L.D was going to descend down on them. Tony had Jarvis rip the camera's systems that Fury had installed the night they got back but he didn't know if they knew the baby had been born yet. So far he'd managed to keep that news away from the media. It was for the best. He would have to have Pepper help him come up with a story after they left.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**:

He was playing with one of Asta's stuffed bears when Steve found him in the kitchen. The half empty bottle of scotch next to the bear probably made for an odd sight but Tony really didn't care.

"So I think Loki's threatening to turn Clint into a toad if he comes near Asta with those weapons of his. For a man who stashed guns all over the place, he certainly doesn't want them anywhere near her." Understandable. The third day of her life, just yesterday, she had floated one of her own blankets to her. Loki denied doing it. Frigga had laughed and claimed the girl was very powerful indeed and he didn't miss the look of pride on her face.

"Hmmm..." was his reply, pretending like he didn't care. He'd been walking around like a zombie lately and he knew that hadn't endeared Odin to him. The man had been shooting him looks of distaste the whole time he'd been staying in the house. Frigga hadn't approached to talk to him again, content it seemed to stop whatever meddling she'd been doing. Tony couldn't help but hate her a little for it.

Steve let out an irritated little huff and grabbed the bottle of scotch. Tony looked up blearily as he went to pour the rest down the drain. That was expensive.

"Steve, you know how money that is?"

"Is that what you're complaining about? You've given up. You're not even going to fight for them and you're sitting here drowning yourself like your father would and you think that's just fine? You think it's just fine you're condemning her to not knowing her father?"

"Fuck you. She's better off. Crappy father I am anyway, what do I know about it? Just a workaholic who couldn't even be bothered to tell his son he loved him till after he was dead. I can't take care of her. I can't protect her."

"You're not in this alone Tony," Steve said, sitting down. Tony sighed, even the rest of the Avengers aren't enough. There were only a few of them, the government held thousands more. Steve wouldn't understand.

"It doesn't matter Steve. Do you think Loki wants to stay here? He hates earth, hates humans. There she'd be raised as a princess, could do all the magic she wants without worrying about getting the attention of the wrong people. It's for the best." The look on his face surely said that it didn't matter what Tony himself really wanted.

Steve put his hand on Tony's shoulder. Manly show of support. "I spent seventy years in ice. I don't remember it. But I do remember her voice. The last thing she said to me. Knowing that I wasn't coming back. The date we never got to have. And I'll never forget it."

"You're going to live a long time Tony. So are they. Do you really want to go through life alone?"

Tony sat alone in his workshop that night thinking. The gods were upstairs packing up things that Asta didn't need to be parted with for their trip home the next morning. Thor would be going with them for a while, but had promised to be back, that he wasn't abandoning the team. He had given Tony a rather pointed look as he said it.

Tony felt like crying but he didn't know how. So he drowned himself in another bottle of scotch and hid. Emotional stability, they name was Tony Stark. And he worked on one of his cars. The same car incidentally that he and Loki had their second encounter in. Maybe he should set it on fire. But then he'd have to set his whole house on fire, to many memories. He suddenly understood why couples that had lost love ones moved from their homes.

He turned around to get a wrench and saw an apple was sitting on his desk. He suddenly felt like he hated apples. He stalked over irritated to throw it out and stopped. There was a note pinned to it. Outside. It said outside. His eyebrows furrowed in contemplation.

She was standing outside with a scowl on her face. An image he'd seen often the past few months but not one he'd thought he'd be seeing again. For one, the fact that the scowl was on her face, when Loki could now stay as a man that he normally was without harm to anyone. Her hair was curled up in the same way it had been the night he'd taken her out to the gala and she had on a long, leather coat. Snow flakes were hitting her hair.

"What...what are you doing?" Her face didn't even softened from her scowl. This was the first time in days he didn't see her with Asta. He was concerned. What if something had happened? Had Odin and Frigga lied and made off with the girl? No, couldn't be. Loki wouldn't be calm. And slightly irritated was perfectly calm in Loki's books.

"Come on," she snapped, grabbing his hand. Tony followed her numbly to...a limo that had been parked outside. Was that Happy in the driver's seat?

"I don't..." she shoved him inside, and closed the door shut behind her. "Where are we going?" He watched as his mansion disappeared as the car started to move. Loki had conjured up a rag and was wiping the grease off his hands and face.

He grabbed her wrist to stop her, "Tell me what's going on?"

"You're a mess, I'm fixing you up." He could see that, but why?

"Why do you look like this?"

Loki stopped scowling and cast her eyes down, suddenly seeming vulnerable. An image he'd never really seen her as, not even in the heights of her weakness as her magic dropped had she ever seemed vulnerable. Loki always had a trick. What was this one?

"Father...there is a loophole. It's stupid really and I don't...you probably won't want this but she needs you, I'm not human. She's got your genetics and well...I don't want her to feel like an outsider. We're going to a church. I asked Pepper where to go." She didn't look up at him. Was she...telling him she wanted to marry him? That she wanted him there with them?

"You want to get married." It wasn't a question.

"Yes...for Asta. It's best for her. Thor was right. As hard as it is to say but he is sometimes. Father won't split up someone married just because he thinks human eyes shouldn't see Asgard."

Tony nodded, staring at her. She still wasn't looking at him. It was a good plan really, even if it meant taking him away from everything he knew. But she would have thought about that, and she wouldn't have approached this if she thought he really didn't want to stay with Asta, even if it meant leaving Earth.

"Best for Asta?"

"Yes!"

"So...nothing about what's best for you? What you want?" He was reaching. He was probably wrong.

Loki snapped, "Don't be stupid." Her eyes were still on the seat. Her put his hand on her chin and lifted her face up. She looked at the door. Tony smirked.

"Alright. Let's go get married," he said. She nodded. She tossed a suit at him that she had apparently been keeping cloaked. He grabbed his phone and texted Happy.

Twenty minutes later the limo stopped. Tony was dressed and didn't even look as if a half hour before he'd been covered in engine grease. Loki was about to open the door when he grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Don't. We're not at the church." Loki tossed him a confused, angry look.

"You can't tell me you changed your mind three seconds ago."

"I didn't. This is California."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Tony smiled, "You're not a girl. Don't get me wrong, you are a gorgeous woman, but you're not one. And I'm not going to marry a lie."

Loki stared, "You want...me? What about your media public?"

"I don't think that's going to matter if I'm going to be gone. I'll have Pepper say I retreated to a private Island somewhere after our daughter's birth. Lucy...was a carrier for our child but I was really with her twin brother. It will be a scandal. The media will eat it up."

"So what, shock value? One last trick?" Tricks were something Loki would always be able to understand but while it would be fun to see America's reaction, that wasn't it.

"No. This is for you. Because despite the fact that you are manipulative, maniacal, drive me completely nuts and always will, I want you. Exactly as you are. My life, long as it now will be, never be boring. And I don't want you to have to lie."

Loki wiped angrily at his face. Hiding tears? Maybe he'd messed up with this and Loki was going to order Happy to take them back, that he no longer thought this was a good idea. Crap, what if he'd overstepped? It felt like diving off a cliff.

Loki opened the door, got out. The courthouse came into view behind them.

Loki rolled his green eyes, "Are you coming?" He started to walk away. Tony laughed and got out to follow him. A stray thought crossed his mind as he caught up to him going up the steps. Was he wearing a dress underneath that coat?


	10. Epilogue

**Epilouge:**

18 years later

It had been a long, whirlwind of fifteen years. Tony had never felt so much like he was in a race car going too fast around a track as he had these past eighteen years. Equal parts thrilling and 'what the hell did I get into'.

Asta had expressed recent interest in going to Midgard and learning the science of her father's world. She was learning Loki's magic well and been trained by Sif and her Uncle Thor in the warrior arts. She was too much like Loki and gave Tony more grey hairs then he'd ever seen in his life. How did an immortal get grey hair? By having a hellion for a child, that's how. And one for a husband. Each day was a lesson in why exactly he'd never gotten married until meeting Loki and yet he never once regretted it.

Pepper was a brilliant CEO and the Stark Company hadn't foundered. Tony felt like he was going to gift it to Asta to run when Pepper was gone and after she had the knowledge to run it. She was never going to be on the throne of this planet after all, might as well give her something to preoccupy herself or else he pictured many times getting her out of trouble. More then had already happened.

They had visited over the years of course. Uncle Steve doted on Asta and she expressed that the blonde captain was going to have to marry her when she got older many times. Tony hoped it was a childish fancy. When he'd been a kid he'd wanted to marry Madonna so he waited for it to pass. He didn't want his best friend as a son-in-law. Not that Steve had ever expressed an interest but Tony knew well that you could never know what happens in life.

Loki walked into the large chambers the small family shared in the golden palace of Asgard. It had taken a while for Tony to get use to not having tvs, or cars, and he overindulged himself everytime he and Thor went back to earth to help the Avengers, or just when they were in need of a vacation or to escape his in-laws. He was holding their second child, three month old Leifr. Their only son. Tony smiled at the thought of his four children. Five years after Asta had been born, Tony woke up one morning to find Loki as a woman again, and not voluntarily. He hadn't assumed that form at all since the day they had gotten married and Tony'd made him change back. Odin certainly hadn't be enthused at the thought that the married couple actually had sex, despite doting on Asta, he preferred to think of the marriage as his son's flight of fancy. Frigga had just expressed her knowing congratulations.

The twin girls born were Signy and Tofa. Both were as unmagical as Tony and Thor, the only ones of any of Loki's children to not even have an ounce of it. What they lacked in magic they more then made up for in intelligence. By three months they'd already been walking and at eight months been talking in sentences. They'd devoured every book in the palace of Asgard and had managed to sneak off past Heimdall twice to visit earth university's. How was anyone's guess, considering they were thirteen years old and couldn't cloak themselves like Loki.

Tony couldn't even think of what trouble and headaches Leifr was going to be causing him soon. He smiled, taking the baby when Loki handed him to him and kissed his husband. He finally understood a father's greatest creation.


End file.
